Unreeling device.



.A., H. WHATLEYP AUNREELING-DEVICEL APPLICATION FILEDAPRL 2. 19:7.

7 Patented Fe1b.,12, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. H. WHATLE 'Y. f UNREELING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED APR-'2. 1911 Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

A. H. WHATLEY.

UNRE'ELING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILEQAPRLIZ. 1917.

Patented Feb.12, 191

3 $HEET$-SHEET 3 ALFRED I-I. WI-IA'IIJEY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

UNBEELING- DEVICE.

Application filer]v April 2, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat 1, Armani) H. l VHlrrLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at 290 estminster street, Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have inv ited certain new and useful Improvements in Unreeling Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to devices for unreeling twine, wire, rope, or strands of flexible material from balls, reels and the like.

It resides first, in driving means whereby the strand is positively unwound from the reel, by power independent of any pull upon the strand;

Second, in apparatus. controlled by the tension or pull on the delivered end of the strand, whereby the slack. if any, in that portion of the strand, freed from the reel, taken up; the reel becomes disconnected from the driving means; the unreeling speed of the strand is lessthan that of the delivered end of the strand; and,when the slack is taken up, the reel becomes connected to the driving means, and the speed of unwinding is the same as, or greater than, that of the delivered end of the strand; and

Third, in various other means for attain ing certain ends, as will clearly appear hereinafter.

It is by the use of the first feature of my invention, that a strand may be successfully unreeled, re ardless of constant or varying diameters; regardless of the change in the diminishing diameter of the unwinding coils on the reel; regardless of whether the strands on the reel are hard, or soft wound; for in the latter case, the unwinding being due to positive driving means, rather than to a pull on the delivered end of the strand, the strand does not bury itself among the loose coils, become fixed among them, and then broken by the positive pull on the strand. And further, the weight and size of the reel and strands are only limited by the size and capacity of the machine.

' By the use of the second feature of my invention when combined with the first, the free end portion of the strand may be fed into the machine using it, intermittently, at a'uniform speed, or at a varying speed; or continuously, at a constant, or at a varying speed.

It is to be here noted, that the structure Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

Serial No. 159,097.

embodying the first feature of my invention may be used for winding upon a reel. for a particular purpose; a strand wound in a form unsuitable for that purpose.

In the drawings illustrating the princi ple of my invention, and the best mode now known to me of embodying the same in operative structure,

Figure 1 is an end elevation of my invention as used in connection with a tag-stringing machine, partially represented;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 22, Fig. showing the brake and clutch operating lever, and disk;

Fig. 8 shows a longitudinal view of my invention partially in section;

Fig. 4 is a top plan of the brake and clutch mechanism Fig. 5 is a vertical crosssection, on line 6--6, Fig. 3, of the take-up mechanism constituting a feature of my invention in operative position;

Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section of the take-up mechanism appearing in Fig. 3; the mechanism being held in inoperative position, as for the purpose of threading the sheaves, with the strand of material to be unreeled from the reel, and delivered where dcsi red 3 Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view on line 7-7, Fig. 6, to show the block of sheaves and its guide-ways;

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of a modified form of my invention as used in connection with a machine which draws the strand of material into it with a continuous, instead of an intermittent, movement;

Fig. 9 illustrates how one feature of my invention, designed for unreeling purposes, may be used for reeling a strand of flexible material, as upon a drum.

Upon a table 1. Fig. 1. is shown a portion of a ta g-stringing machine 2 which intermittently seizes and draws into it, the free end portion 3 of twine or strand 4: unwound from the reel 5 whose unwinding is controlled by the operation of some of the features of my invention.

Upon a base 6, below the top of the table, is secured a metal casing 7, Fig. 3, having a suitable bearing for a sleeve 8, to which are fixed a driving Wheel 9 and a concave friction-disk 10 of a clutch. Within the sleeve is rotatably mounted a reel driving shaft 11, which has a bearing in the casing, also. A cone-disk 12. forming part of the clutch, to

; Fig. 3, into engagement with the concaved engage the concave friction-disk, is splined upon the reel-driving shaft, to which is also fixedly keyed, a brake wheel 13. In the outer face of this brake wheel, are two reellocking'lugs 14, Figs. 1 and 3; while in the adjacent end of the reel driving shaft, is a reel-spindle supporting-recess 15, Fig. 3, opposite to which in the longitudinal axis of the reel-driving shaft, in a standard 16 fixed to the base, is a bearing 17 for a reel-spindle l8. A locking latch 19 removably secures the reel spindle in its bearings.

Upon the spindle 18, may be removably mounted the reel 5 having wound in coils upon it, the coils of the strand to be unreeled. This reel consists of a skeleton frame of two end cross-arms 21 united longitudinally by rods 22 constituting a skeleton drum upon which the twine is wound. Atthe intersection of the arm at each end cross, is a hole 23 to receive the spindle 18 upon which the reel may freely turn. This spindle has two cones of larger diameter than that of the spindle holes in the reel, to confine the reel upon the spindle longitudinally; one cone 24' being fixed near one end portion of the spindle, while the other cone 25 is slidably removable upon the spindle, but may become fixed thereto by the means of a binding screw 26. The end portions of the spindle are designed to be mounted in the recess 15 in the end of the reel-driving shaft, and in the bearing 17 in the standard 16, whereby the reel may be brought into operative re-' lation with. the other parts of the apparatus.

An inspection of Figs. 1 and 3 will make it plain that by lifting the lock latch 19. a reel 5 properly mounted upon its spindle, may be secured in operative position by placing the small fixed cone end 24 of the spindle in the supporting recess 15, in the reel-driv= ing shaft 11; one of the reel cross arms 21, so as to be confined between the lock lugs 14,

on the face of the brake wheel 13; by dropping the opposite end of the reel spindle 18 7 into the bearing 17 in the standard 16; and then, closing the lock latch 19. To remove the reel and spindle, the above method of mounting is reversed.

connected to a parallel lever 30, Fig. 3, pivoted to the standard 16; this bar being centrally connected to take-up mechanism 31 by means of a coil spring 32. Fixed to the short arm of the lever 27, Fig. 2, is a cam 33 which, when the lever is depressed by reason of the weight of the long arm, engagesthe inside of the rim of the brake wheel 13.

To move the cone-faced clutch member 12,

friction disk 10, an annular channel 34,'in its hub 1s embraced by a suitable yoke 35, Fig. 4,

brake lever 27, having a diameter larger than that of the arm. Substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of the arm, there is provided in a suitable cavity in the brake lever, a spring plunger 38, the head 39 of which, whenever; the brake and clutch lever is raised, is in spring engagement with the bell crank lever 36, so that when the clutch faces 10. and 12 engage, there will be a sufficiently yielding engagement between the bell crank lever and the brake lever, to prevent the movements of the latter from breaking the twine, as where the delivery to the machine is continuous. When the delivery is not continuous, but intermittent, and the strand is subjected to jerks, the breakage of the strand may be obviated by the use of the take-up mechanism 31, which I will now describe.

A pair of vertical guideways 40, Figs. 1, 3 and 6, are fixed to the frame of the tagstringing machine 2. At the top of these ways, are mounted upon a pintle 41, a number of sheaves 42, say four, over the top of which is a pivoted guard 43 normally locked by a spring catch 44. A block 45 having a like number of sheaves 46, slides in the guideways; and is connected by the coil pivoted guard 43 over the top sheaves 42 is lifted back;the movable block 45 of sheaves raised, and locked in position for threading,

by means of a swing catch 47, Fig. 6. The strand 4 from the reel, is then passed up through a guide ring 48 in the table, thread ed successively around the respective sheaves 1 42, 46, in the stationary top block and the movable bottom block, andfinally back over A brake and clutch operating lever 27,

the last sheave in the top block, to the machine 2 requiring it, where the free end may, through suitable mechanism 49, Fig. 1, be securely held and moved.

I will now describe the operation of mvention. Enough twme or strand having.

been unreeled, as already explained, to be threaded through the sheaves 42, 45, of the take-up mechanism, and connected with the feed mechanism 49 of the strand requiring machine in the manner already described,

the latch 47 is moved disengages the m0vable block 45, and the latter at once settles down, the strands .50 of twine becoming- I taut, and the brake lever taking its lowest position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3; i We will assflme that-the power is applied to the driving pulley 9, which together with the con cave friction clutch member 10, begins and continues to move. But at this time, the slidable face of the cone clutch disk 12, is out of contact with the concave member; and because the brake and clutch lever 27 is in its lowest position, the brake cam 33 is locked with the inner face of the brake wheel 13 and the long arm of the bell crank lever 36 operating the movable cone member 12 of the clutch, holds the latter out of contact with the concave driving disk 10; the result being thatthe reel 5 of twine is stationary, but ready to rotate the moment the brake is loosened, and the slidable face of the clutch is moved into engagement with that of the cooperating driving member.

Next, we will assume that the machine requiring the twine begins to move, and draw into it, the free end portion 3 of the twine. That portion 4 of the twine, free from the reel, begins to shorten-the reel being stationaryand to raise the lower block 45 in the guideways l0 at aspeed much slower than that with which the twine is be ing fed to the machine, say in the ratio, of 1 to 8. But as the lower block 45 rises, the coil spring 32 is gradually put under tension and lengthened, until the tension is enough to raise the operating bar29 and clutch and brake lever 27, against the opposition of their weight, and the power required tooperate the clutch. The cam 33, Fig. 2, disengages the brake wheel 13; the long arm of the bell crank clutch lever 36 moves the movable cone clutch member 12, Fig. 3, slidable on the driving shaft, into engagement with the power-driven concave clutch disk 10; and the reel 5 is caused to begin and continue unreeling the twine thereon. The speed of unwinding must always be greater than that with which the twine is taken into the machine. But the moment the reel begins to unreel, there being more twine fed than is used. the movable block 45 of sheaves 46 slowly descends until the clutch and brake lever 27, again move the clutch members 10, 12, out of engagement, and the brake cam 33 into contact with the free, but moving brake wheel 13, fixedly connected to the reel. As the latter stops, the twine, fedto the machine, again shortens the twine freed from the reel, the lower block 45 rises, and through the tension on the coil spring 32, causes a repetition of the above-described operation of removing the brake from the brake wheel, and connecting the wheel through the clutch, to the concave driving disk of the clutch.

It will be noticed that by means of this takeup mechanism, a comparatively short movement of the lower block of sheaves, in one direction, will, through the various increasing lengths of twine between the sheaves, take up the increasing ;le1 1gths of oversupplyof twine delivered directly from the positively driven reel, until it is stopped; and, in the opposite direction, a movement of the block will, until the reel again begins to unreel, give out from its oversupply of twine between the sheaves, the amount of twine required by the machine.

In other words, the take-up mechanism takes care of too much twine positively dclivered from the reel. at a certain period of time, stops the reel, whichwaits until the overdelivery to the sheaves has'been withdrawn by the machine. While the tension on the twine in noway aids the unreel-ing movement of the reel, which movement, it must be remembered, is due entirely to the positive power transmitted by the power pulley to the reel, through the clutch mecha nism; yet said tension, increasing and decreasing, does, through the coil spring connection to the brake and clutch lever, alter nately, on the one hand, release the brake, connect the clutch whereby the power starts to move the reel; and, on the other hand,

disconnect the clutch, and hence the power from the reel, and operate the brake to stop the reel.

The structure depicted in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, may be used when the feed is continuous or intermittent, the breakage of the strand being avoided by the yielding takeup mechanism 31. Where, however, the feed is only continuous, the take-up mechanism 31 may be omitted, and the strand 51, Fig. 8, led directly from the reel 5 under the operating bar 29 and up to the apparatus 52, requiring a continuous supply of strand, for in this case the yielding engagement between the bell crank lever 36, Figs. 2 and 3, and the brake lever 27 through the spring plunger 38 in the brake lever, prevents the vibratory movements of the brake lever 27 from breaking the strand 51, Fig. 8.

It is not be to forgotten, that asthe diameter of the coils on the reel diminishes, the number of revolutions remaining the same, less length of twine is delivered to the take-up mechanism; hence to insure the operation of the invention, the number of revolutions of the reel must always be enough to unwind the last coils of twine upon the drum. of the reel, at a speed greater than thatreqnired for the delivery of the twine to the machine.

As great quantities of twine, and the like, are used in many machines, as in tag-stringing machines, there arises the necessity of frequent replacements of supplies of twine. This may be obviated by increasing the dimensions of the reel shown, as in length of the drum, and of the cross arms, and by having the reel specially wound either at the twine factories; or by utilizing the unreeling mechanism here shown, Fig. 9, for reel ratus to operate said clutch mechanism ated, and not dependent upon the pull on the strand, for unwinding it from the reel, the tensional strength of the strand does not have'to be considered in the problem of unwinding the reel.

Desiring to protect my invention in the;

broadest manner legally possible,

What I claim is z- 1. In an unreeling device, a' source of power; a 'reel with strands of material wound thereon; a friction clutch to connect and disconnect saidreel and said source of power, intermittently to positively drive the reel to unwind the strand; a lever operatively connected to said strand; a second lever one arm of which is connected to the movable member of the clutch; and a yielding bearing surface in said first lever, to be engaged by the second arm of the second lever, to prevent the vibratory movements of the first lever from breaking the strand.

2. A11 unreeling. device comprising a reel with strands of material wound thereon; a source of power; clutch mechanism to connect and disconnect said reel and said source of power intermittently, to positively drive the reel to unwind the strand; braking" means to control said reel while disconnected from said source of power; and appaand said braking means; that portion of strand freed from the reel being operatlvely connected with said apparatus to automatically operate said clutch mechanism and said braking means, when the pull is exerted on the free portion of the strand.

3. An unreeling device comprising a reel with strands of material wound thereon; a source of power; clutch mechanism to connect and disconnect said reel and said source of power intermittently, to positively drive the reel to unwind the strand; braking means to control said reel while disconnected from said source of power; a take-up device; apparatus to seasonably operate said a said braking means; said apparatus and the portion of the the reel being arclutch mechanism and said take-up device; strand unwound from ranged to operate said take-up device; and

means whereby a pull may be imparted to copies of this patent may be obtained for a cavity in the end the five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0.

the free. end portion the take-up device. 7

l.v An unreeling device comprising a reel with strands of material wound thereon; a source of power; a clutch means; a connection between said apparatus and the movable block of said take-up de-.

vice; the portion of the strand freed from the reel, being passed successivelybverthe sheaves in said blocks; and gripping means whereby a pull may be imparted to thefree end portion of the strand. V

5 In an unreeling device, a source of power; a clutch; a shaft opera'tively connected to the movable member of theclutch;

a friction wheel fixedto the shaft; a reel spindle; a reel removably secured thereon.

of the shaft, in itslongitudinal axis, and a reelspindle bearing, in both of which the reel spindle may be removably mounted; a friction to the shaft, and having locking lugs to engage the reel, when in position, to cause the reel to turn with the shaft.

'6. In an unreeling device, a source of power; a clutch; a shaft operatively con nected to the movable member of the clutch;

a reel spindle; a reel movably secured thereon; means-whereby said spindle may be re movably mountedin the longitudinal axis of the shaft; means whereby said reel may become removably fixed to said'shaft to be turned by said shaft; means to operate said clutch and to brake the movement of the shaft and reel, upon the disconnection of the shaft from the device having-a stationary and a movable block, each having one of more sheaves; a yielding connection between. said movable block and said brake means; the freed portion of the strand on said reel, passing successively over the sheaves in said blocks; and gripping means whereby a to the free end portion of the strand.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED H. WHATLEY. Witnesses:

of the strand leaving mechanism to. con- 7 nect and-disconnect said reel and 'Sflld source source of power, a take-up pull may be imparted CHARLES F. RICHARDSQN,

H. E. DAVIS.

Commissioner of Patents, 

